Thai housemaid rescued after 5 years of abuse by employer
Thai social media influencer Guntouch “Gun” Pongpaiboonwet rescued a housemaid who had been suffering from physical abuse at the hands of her employer in Nonthaburi province for more than five years.
The 22 year old housemaid sought Gun’s help after escaping from her employer’s home to save her life. She revealed the whole story with the public that her employer had previously asked her to find a full-time housemaid for the household. She then recommended her niece for the job.
However, the niece only worked there for a short period before resigning, leading the victim to take the position herself. The employer informed her that she would be on probation for six months, earning 6,000 baht per month. If she passed the probationary period, her salary would be increased to 9,000 baht per month.
The housemaid stated that she received 6,000 baht for the first six months as promised but did not receive any further payments from the seventh month onwards.
Her employer claimed that her monthly salary was being saved and would be given to her in a large sum when she took leave to visit her family. The total amount she expected to receive was approximately 2.7 million baht, but she never received any of it.
The victim reported that the first physical abuse occurred in October last year. The employer ordered her to remove her shirt and then struck her on the back with a wooden stick 100 times. She was repeatedly assaulted for unreasonable reasons, such as serving insufficient food to the employer’s family.
Another maid in danger
The employer then confiscated her mobile phone and ID card to prevent her from seeking help from her family or others. On one occasion, she secretly took a mobile phone from her employer to contact her family but she was caught and punished.
The housemaid decided to escape on February 10. She managed to retrieve her ID card in secret before fleeing the house.
Unfortunately, her employer later presented CCTV footage of her retrieving the ID card to the police and accused her of stealing a gold necklace. This led to the police hunting for her, prompting her to seek Gun’s help.
The victim added that she feared for her safety as her employer claimed to have influential connections within the police, and she was also worried that her complaint would be ignored by the authorities.
Gun explained that he had informed the police about the situation and assured them that he would bring the housemaid to the station himself. However, the officers proceeded to arrest her and handed her back to her abusive employer.
Gun eventually secured her release and took legal action against the employer. However, the police later granted the employer bail.
Gun stated that he would continue to follow up on the case and ensure that justice was served. He also expressed concern for another housemaid who was still working for the same abusive employer. This housemaid had previously attempted to help the victim and might now be facing abuse herself.
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